PIERCING THE VEIL: You Too Can Be A Powerful Paradox Like Vanessa Ives from “PENNY DREADFUL”

By JILLIAN KRISTINA

The energy of the week has blanketed the collective with a sort of haze,  a brain fog obscuring the usual way forward. With seven planets, the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Neptune and Chiron, occupying the sign of Aries today, April 17, on the New Moon, it’s no wonder the skies are calling for a different approach. This installment of PIERCING THE VEIL will let the cards speak and help clear a passage through this astrological season of fire, fury and fierce urgency. 

Aries New Moon Message: Tend to your own.

Tending to your own doesn’t mean neglecting those or the world around you, but instead, to turn your focus inward to make sure you’re caring for yourself as best you can, to be the steadiest version of yourself that you can, for yourself and others. More succinctly, eyes on your own paper! Stay in your lane. Turn away from distraction to tend to your priorities. The distractions are the compost – the energy leaks you’re coming to realize no longer matter, because what you’re doing, creating and sustaining matters more. And enjoying it and lavishing on it matters just as much, especially now. That’s one part of the energetic cycles we’re closing down from 2025 as we come to the end of the first astrological sign of 2026 (the astrological New Year, ending in Pisces and beginning again in Aries), remembering to indulge in what we’re working so hard to cultivate. Because there’s freedom in slowing down, in noticing, in appreciating. There’s liberation in stopping, in resting, in feeling; in experiencing not just life, but the lives we’ve worked so hard to raise and fortify. That’s not only an essential part of presence; that’s the core element of personal rebellion and revolution.

And don’t forget, our invisible team of ancestors and beloved dead is cheering us on. They see the work we’re doing in these unprecedented times. They see the cycles we’re breaking the chains we’re casting off. They’re witnessing the heavy lifting, and they’re urging us to witness ourselves  – to celebrate ourselves. To remove the blindfolds of “not enough” to see just how far we’ve come  – who we’ve become – against all odds, while facing down the very real monsters that threaten to derail and destroy us with each passing day. 

Let these cards support and guide and ground you through the coming Taurus season, which begins this Sunday. But today, on this powerfully paradoxical New Moon in Aries, take a moment to reflect. The fire and intensity have been palpable, so finding ways to both positively channel it and also to release excess heat will help soothe any burns and clarify the next steps forward. There’s potent action energy here. Our job is to direct it in the most genuine, honest and sustainable way possible.

If you feel the need for some extra inspiration, look to some of these icons of selfhood and sovereignty: the Queen of the Underworld, the Initiator at the Crossroads and the Eater of Death, and the Harbinger of Prophecy, Death, Battle and Sovereignty – all warriors in their own right, on their own terms, claiming their own ground. Their space. 

And in the coming weeks, look for some words on the timeless Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) of PENNY DREADFUL, the very embodiment of power and paradox and the will to wield and fight the fight that only she can. We can learn a lot from Miss Ives. Identify which causes call to you, that require your unique gifts and your otherworldly talents – the tongues you speak to yourself when no one is close, muttering ancient hymns and enchantments that echo through the chambers of your heart and soul. This is where your calling is revealed in the strengths that you bring to the battlefield – you, and only you. 

Meet me back here for the Scorpio Full Moon on Friday, May 1, the beginning of Bealtaine, the mirror to the liminal, sister cross-quarter passage of Samhain.